The wind howled through the trees as Sarah tightened her scarf and pulled her flashlight from her coat pocket. She was alone, her car stranded on the narrow, overgrown road, tire flat, miles from anyone who could help. The GPS had sent her down this old forest road, promising a shortcut. Now, with her phone dead, the only thing guiding her was the flickering beam of light in her hand and the dim path winding deeper into the woods. She hoped it would lead her to a house or a main road, but the air felt wrong, heavy with something unseen.
It was silent aside from the wind, too silent. Even the rustling of leaves sounded muffled, as if the forest itself were holding its breath. Every step she took crunched and echoed, reminding her just how alone she was. Yet, there was another sound—a faint rustling, too far to be her own footsteps, and just subtle enough to unnerve her. She picked up her pace, hoping to shake the irrational feeling creeping up her spine.
The path grew narrower, suffocating with overgrown branches that clawed at her jacket. Her flashlight dimmed as she shone it forward, illuminating something strange up ahead. A weathered, crumbling stone wall peeked out from beneath a carpet of moss, with vines snaking around its jagged edges. It wasn’t until she stepped closer that she saw the gate—an iron structure twisted and warped, the entrance to a graveyard.
She hesitated, her breath clouding in the air. The gate creaked open on its own as if inviting her in. She knew she should turn around, wait by the car until morning, but something drew her forward, a strange compulsion she couldn’t shake. The fog was thick here, coiling around the tombstones that leaned at odd angles, their inscriptions faded and cracked. She tried to read one, brushing the moss away, but the letters crumbled at her touch, revealing nothing.
A shiver ran through her, and she spun around, thinking she heard footsteps behind her. The flashlight trembled in her hand, casting shaky beams that only intensified the shadows. She saw no one, but the feeling of being watched grew stronger, prickling at her skin.
Then, she saw it—a figure standing just beyond the gate, cloaked in shadow. It was tall, too tall, with limbs that seemed to stretch in the darkness. Its eyes caught the faint glow of her flashlight, reflecting back at her with an eerie, hollow gleam. She couldn’t move, her feet rooted to the ground as if paralyzed by its gaze.
The figure started moving toward her, silently, its movements too fluid, almost gliding. Her heart thundered in her chest as she stumbled back, tripping over a cracked gravestone and falling hard. The flashlight rolled from her hand, casting dizzying circles of light as it spun, before finally resting on the figure’s face.
It was featureless—a pale, hollow shape with no eyes, no mouth, no nose. Just a blank, endless void where a face should have been.
Sarah’s scream caught in her throat as she scrambled backward, feeling the cold grip of fear paralyze her limbs. She tried to reach for the flashlight, but the figure was closer now, its shadow falling over her like a shroud. She could feel an unnatural chill emanating from it, colder than the night air, pressing in on her like suffocating hands.
She squeezed her eyes shut, praying it was all a nightmare. But when she opened them, the figure was gone. Silence returned, thick and oppressive, as if the forest had swallowed it whole.
Sarah exhaled shakily, relief washing over her… until she felt a breath—cold and heavy—against her neck. And in the darkness, a whisper broke the silence:
“Found you.”
The last thing she saw was her flashlight flickering out.
